Electric switching devices for high tension



1957 H. A. HlDDE NIJLAND 2,777,920

ELECTRIC SWITCHING DEVICES FOR HIGH TENSION Filed July 8, 1954 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Jan. 15, 1957 H. A. HIDDE NlJLAND 2,777,920

ELECTRIC SWITCHING DEVICES FOR HIGH TENSION Filed July 8, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United ELECTRIC SWITCHING DEVICES FOR HiGH TENSION Hendrik A. Hidde Nijland, Laren, Netherlands, assignor to N. V. Coq, Utrecht, Netherlands The invention relates to a development of a single or multiple phase switching device for high tension having fixed switching contacts and one or more switching rods cooperating therewith, said switching rods being adapted to be axially driven by a driving mechanism and to be removed from and inserted into the switching device, while the fixed switching contacts are alive, said driving mechanism being provided with a movable member adapted to be moved parallelly to each switching rod, to which member each switching rod is detachably connected.

In switching devices of this kind, in which the fixed switching contacts and the switching rod cooperating therewith are accommodated in a switching unit adapted to be removed as a whole from a stationary part, e. g., the casing, of the switching device, it was up to now necessary either to remove the complete driving mechanism together with the switching unit or units attached thereto or to demount said driving mechanism, before the switching unit or units could be removed from the casing. Especially in switches of great capacity difiiculties in demounting the switching units from and mounting the same into the stationary parts of the switching devices may arise thereby.

The invention has for its object to avoid these difiiculties and to provide a switching device in which the driving mechanism is so mounted on the stationary part, e. g., the casing, of the device, as to make it unnecessary to remove said mechanism when the switching unit has or the switching units have to be removed.

The invention consists in that the said movable member of the driving mechanism is guided by a guiding arrangement, of which at least a part is movably mounted, and in that said member is so coupled with a driving member as to be able to be moved out of its path, after the switching rod has or the switching rods have been removed from the switching device and the movable part of the guiding arrangement has been moved out of its working position.

The said movable member of the driving mechanism may be carried out as a yoke, which is mounted for transverse movement between at least two pairs of parallel guiding members, of each of which pairs at least one guiding member is pivotally connected to a stationary part, e. g., the casing, of the switching device.

Moreover, the movable member of the yoke of the driving mechanism may be linked by means of linking rods to crank-levers mounted on a rotatably reciprocating shaft of the driving mechanism.

For the elucidation of the invention reference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a front elevational view of the upper part of a three phase circuit-breaker, and

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of said part of the circuit-breaker.

The stationary tubular casings of a three phase circuitbreaker are designated by 1. Mounted in each of these rates Patent 2,777,920 Patented Jan. 15, 1957 casings is a switching unit 2, which is provided in a manner known per se, with fixed switching contacts (not shown) and a movable switching rod 3. The three switching rods 3 are detachably connected to a movable yoke substantially consisting of two parallel strips 4. After the switching rods 3 have been disconnected from the yoke 4, they may beremoved from the switching units 2 while the fixed switching contacts thereof remain alive.

The yoke 4 is guided in a direction parallel to the movement of the switching rods by two pairs of guiding members 5, 6. The guiding members are constituted by vertical plates, which are mounted by the sides of the driving mechanism on a horizontal plate or platform 7 connected to the three casings 1. The guiding members 6 are constructed as double strips which are pivotaliy connected at their one ends to the plates 5 by means of pivots 8 and are detachably connected at their other ends to said plates 5 by means of removable studs 9, in such a manner that guiding slots 10 for the yoke 4 are formed.

The yoke 4 is linked bymeans of linking rods 11 to crank-levers 12 connected to a shaft 13 of the driving mechanism. This shaft can be rotatably rcciprocated by said mechanism, which is known per se and therefore not shown. Due to this movement of the shaft 13 the yoke 4 carrying the switching rods 3 is moved up and down between the guiding slots and the circuit-breaker is opened and closed, respectively.

Now, if for the inspection or the replacement of parts the switching units containing the fixed switching contacts have to be removed from the casings 1, the yoke 4 must be brought into the upper most position, so that the circuit-breaker is opened, and thereafter the switching rods 3 must be detached from the yoke 4 and removed from the switching units 2. After this has been carried out, the studs 9 may be taken away permitting the guiding strips 6 to be swung out of the way about the pivots 8. The guiding strips 6 may then be moved into a position 6, in which they abut against a strip 14 provided between the plates 5. It will be apparent, that thereupon the yoke 4 is able to be swung out of the way about the pivots 15 connecting the linking rods 11 and the crank-levers 12 and to be brought into the position 4. In that position of the yoke 4 the switching units 2 may be removed from the casings 1. Fig. 2 shows that, when the yoke 4 is in its position 4', the switching units are not hampered by said yoke during their retraction from the casings 1. In Fig. 2 a position of said switching units during their axial removal from the casings 1 is designated by 2.

What I claim is:

1. An electric switching device for high tension comprising, in combination, for each phase of the device fixed switching contacts, a rod-shaped movable switching contact cooperating with said fixed contacts and adapted to be removed from and inserted into the switching device, while the fixed switching contacts are alive, means for keeping the fixed switching contacts spaced apart and guiding the movable switching contact, said distance and guiding means and said cooperating switching contacts constituting a complete switching unit, a stationary supporting structure, said switching unit being detachably mounted in said supporting structure, a driving mechanism for driving said switching rod in axial direction and being directly supported by said stationary structure independently of said switching unit, a movable member adapted to be moved by the driving mechanism parallelly to the switching rod which is detachably connected to said movable member, a guiding arrangement for said movable member, said arrangement being directly mounted on said supporting structure, at least a part of said guiding arrangement being movably mounted, a driving member forming part of the driving mechanism proper ber afteraxiisengagementiof :thenswitchingjrodLand with-V drawalr of the movable part'of' 'the gniding arrangement-z. tobe moved from its ordinarv pathiintowa position, in which said member can not interfere -with1the removal. oi:

the switching unit from the-supportingstructurez 2. Anelectric.switehing device as clain ied-infclaim 1,: in whichat leasttwo pairs of.parallel,gguiding-members-v are provided; of each of which pairs atnleastone guiding member is pivotally connectedvztosthei istationary partr of the switching-1 device.- and t the saidmovable "member-loin 4 v the driving" mechanism is formed as a yoke which "is mounted for transverse reciprocation between said pairs of guiding members. 7

3. An electric switching device as claimed in claim 1, comprising in addition, a rotatably reciprocating shaft forming part of the driving mechanism crank-levers mounted on said shaft and linking rods forming links be-.

tween said crank-levers and the said movable member of the driving "mechanism;

References Cited in. the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS I 2,566,095 i Scarpas; Aug-:28, 1951 

